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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23119102">stillness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Vinland Saga (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brother/Brother Incest, M/M, Sibling Incest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 05:48:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>649</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23119102</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This isn't changing any time soon.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Atli/Presumable Canon Wife (Vinland Saga), Atli/Torgrim (Vinland Saga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>stillness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Fits into the fix-it series. @ vincestsaga on twitter for more brocontent 👍</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's his main job these days, watching his brother. They can't be at each other every day or every week like when they were young. Not just because age makes it harder these days—or softer, rather—but because so much goes into having an hour to themselves, now. So Torgrim waits on the right moment. He helps in other ways, of course; he's working every second, to make up for the other times, but he watches Atli, too. Atli's always working harder. And when the strain starts to show, that's when his big brother steps in.</p>
<p>The sheets are a little rougher than the ones the kids get. Atli's spoiling them at his own expense, in Torgrim's opinion. The pillows are nice, though. Pretty common material, but the two of them need propping up most of the time, these days, and they work fine for that.</p>
<p>Lying on the mattress afterwards, Torgrim always thinks it's not as soft as the one he has, and he doesn't like it, and he has to make up for that too—and he keeps an eye on his brother still, letting Atli be alone in the world for a few seconds while he gathers himself back together. Never for long, though. He needs holding these days, in a way they both had to learn. And when he's been taken, and held, and worn to exhaustion in his brother's arms, that's when his body lets him sleep.</p>
<p>(He's stopped telling him their beds should be the same, because Atli knows what he means by it. And Torgrim knew he would, and he shouldn't have said it. Atli won't ever hurt him back, tell him it's his own fault. But he hasn't turned slow. It's just there are the other times, too, and he hates those other times worse than anything in the fucking world. If that <em>him</em> were a brother, another one stumbling out of the womb just a few decades too late—well, there wouldn't be three of them for long.)</p>
<p>Atli looks older than he used to, asleep. Torgrim feels older, and when he sees himself in the mirror he looks it. It always surprises him how much. (Must happen to everyone.) But his baby brother still drools in his sleep and half-smiles for a second when it's wiped off. Still in his sleep. His shoulders aren't white like the songs always talk about, where they curve up under the blanket. He works too hard in the summer for that. Still plenty beautiful.</p>
<p>The afternoons when he lets Atli go in between his thighs—not needs, <em>lets</em>—those are for his brother too. Showing him everything's fine, letting him be soothing and in control of their rhythm. It eases his mind. And Torgrim can't ask him to take these sheets against his belly every time.</p>
<p>Maybe the woman doesn't complain about the sheets against her belly, but Torgrim doesn't ask about those nights. He lets her do her own watching, and doesn't care much what she sees or hears. His brother doesn't look her in the face, while they're about whatever it is, that they need to do for the marriage. Torgrim's the one who's had him on his back, too, both of them filling up each other's field of vision and nobody else in their heads. Backs out against the world, the way they used to stand with their backs to each other, arms held up against the world.</p>
<p>Their whole lives, this has been the safest place in the world for Atli. With his big brother. Back to back, side by side, in each other's arms. If he needs to sleep here to get his energy back, that's what he'll get. This'll keep on being the only spot where he's protected like he should be.</p>
<p>This is how Torgrim's making up for it. Nobody else can give him this.</p>
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